Just Keep Swimmin'
by i-am-your-opus
Summary: "I just can't feel her the way I need to. I thought I would still be able to with her gone, but I can't." Brittany struggles with Santana's absence while she's at Louisville. Inspired by the rerelease of Finding Nemo, and Ryan's recent spoilers. Brittana, Bram friendship, two-shot.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: **Hello friends! I had to write this tonight after going to see Finding Nemo. That being said, don't read unless you've seen it/don't want to be spoiled about the plot! I try to leave out as many details as possible, but, y'know.

This isn't my usual style, but I figured I'd give it a try. Also, the characterizations are based off the premiere, not my opinions of the characters. It's just how I felt they were acting last night!

I unfortunately do not have a beta. If you spot mistakes, feel free to message me with them and I will definitely fix them right up.

Enjoy, and review if you feel so inclined. :)

**iam-your-opus . tumblr . com**

**A/N2: **I had to reupload this, unfortunately. Sorry to the kids who alerted it the first time around!

* * *

The red mark on her paper was glaring at her.

She shoved it under her notebook, hoping that she'd be able to forget about it until after class, but she could feel the red ink in the blush on her cheeks. She dropped her gaze to the back of the chair in front of her, unable to look the teacher in the eye. She didn't want to see the lack of disappointment, the lack of any reaction at all because this was just _typical Brittany. _The teacher didn't know about the hours that she spent studying on Skype with Santana, the amount of times she quizzed herself with flashcards to try and get just a few of the terms correct. And now, she would never get to.

She didn't pay attention for the rest of the class. The teacher only called on her once, but quickly moved on to another student when Brittany shrugged her shoulders. When other kids said they didn't know, she would try to force them to give her an answer anyway, believing that somewhere deep in their minds they knew the answer, they just were too lazy to try and remember it.

Not with Brittany.

She ran to the bathroom as fast as she could after class, locking herself in a stall before taking a deep, shaky breath and allowing the tears to finally sting at her eyes. She wouldn't cry, _no_, she was stronger than that, but she would at least let herself to feel them there. She would let herself feel the pain of failure, hoping that it would motivate her to do better next time.

But the issue wasn't a lack of motivation. She had tried her hardest, she really had.

_Maybe I'm just not meant to do this…_ she thought, before sniffling and pulling out her phone. She couldn't let herself think that way, she knew that, so she turned to the one person she knew could make her feel better.

_To: Santana _

_i got a C- on my history test…_

She didn't get a text back before the warning bell rang, and figured that Santana must be in class. Either that, or she was so disappointed in her that she didn't know what to say, but Brittany pushed those sort of thoughts from her mind as she sat down in English. The second she laid her phone against the desk it began to buzz, earning her a glare from Mr. Hutch. He wouldn't look away until she had slipped her phone into her bag on the floor.

She waited for him to turn back to the board before grabbing her phone and putting it in her lap.

_From: Santana_

_Aw, Britt. It's okay, you'll do better next time. You passed! _

Brittany frowned. She had passed, yes, and while that was certainly an improvement she was never going to get into a college near Santana if she didn't pull her grades up even higher. And what if she had more than one test in one day? She had spent days studying for this one. She couldn't possibly handle it if there was more.

_To: Santana_

_i studied really hard though. It feels like it was for nothing_

She glanced up at the board. The teacher had already written some notes down, numbers in grids that she didn't recognize, and she hurried to jot them down.

_From: Santana_

_I know you did, baby. It'll just take some practice. _

_To: Santana_

_but i've already failed once, i don't have the time to practice anymore San_

"Brittany!"

Her head snapped up as Mr. Hutch called her name. He was looking at her, eyebrows raised, eyes darting between her face and the phone hidden in her lap.

"If I catch you one more time, I'll have to take it away from you," he said, giving a stern look, before turning back to the board. "Now, as I was saying, matrices…"

The phone buzzed in her hands to remind her she had an unanswered text. She chanced one more look at it before she had to put it away.

_From: Santana_

_B, you're not going to fail again. Just keep doing your best. _

Brittany sighed, dropping her phone back into her bag.

For the longest time, Santana had been the only thing that could make her feel any better. That was when she was _there_, though. She'd been gone for nearly a month at this point, and Brittany felt it that day more than ever. Santana used to be able to make her feel better with sweet words, promises of cuddling up on her couch with a movie on the television, small kisses peppered across her cheeks, but that day…

That day, Brittany was alone.

* * *

By the time she walked into the choir room, she just wanted to go home. She very rarely hated going to Glee Club. In fact, it was usually the best part of her day. For the longest time, the choir room was the only place Santana would act as if they were really together. That had ended last year, but Brittany still felt more herself in that room than anywhere else because of it. The glee kids were her family.

And right now, the family was fighting.

"Rachel herself picked me to take her place! Blaine might have won our little competition, though after that duet the two of you did I can see _why._ But the fact remains that Rachel Barbara Berry, Broadway Bound, picked _me_ to take her place, and that should mean that I get at least _half _of the solos!"

"Tina there are plenty of solos for everyone," Blaine said exasperatedly.

"Yeah, says the boy wonder who gets _all _of them," Tina snapped, rolling her eyes.

"Guys!" Sam broke in, interrupting them. "Listen, it's barely a month into school and we're already at the bottom of the food chain again. This club is all we have now, so we all need to chill the hell out and get along."

"Sam is right," Mr. Schuester stepped out from behind the piano, nodding. "We need to buckle down and focus. Sectionals will sneak up on us before we even know it, and we'll have wasted all of our time arguing over nonsense."

"Why whenever _I _have anything to say it's _nonsense?!" _Tina yelled, throwing up her hands. "Rachel got to be a diva about everything. When Mercedes was told she had to even _share _Maria, she quit the entire show. Hell, she went and made her own damn show choir group! I have been here every day. I have worked my _ass_ off with everyone else, and for what? To be told that my opinion, that my feelings are _nonsense?_"

"Tina!" Mr. Schuester interrupted her. "We can talk about this _after class._ For now you can either sit down and work on the song, or go cool off for a bit. Either way we can't waste any more time on this!"

Tina narrowed her eyes before turning to sit a few seats down from Brittany. She could practically feel the hot anger radiating off her. It made her feel sick.

"Unique, Artie, come up here, you two will be singing the first solos," Mr. Schuester called, waving them towards the piano. "The rest of you, look over your music. Brittany, maybe see if you can think of some choreography while you're not busy."

Brittany nodded absentmindedly, taking the sheet music from Blaine as he passed it around the room.

"Hey," Sam said, sitting next to her.

"Hey, Sammy!" she said, trying to sound as bright and enthusiastic as possible.

"Mind if I work with you on this?" Sam doesn't dance, so the question strikes her as weird, but she nods anyway.

She began to explain the choreography she had in mind to Sam, pointing at different spots in the music as he went along. He nodded the entire time, and once or twice gave her a little input- nothing negative, usually "sounds great!" or "that will look really awesome!"

She appreciated having Sam there. He'd been really great to her ever since the start of the school year. She had always been friends with everyone in the glee club, but never had bothered to get particularly close to anyone but Santana.

Mr. Schuester worked with Artie and Unique for nearly half the meeting. They were doing a lot of runs, the awesome kind that Brittany couldn't even begin to attempt, and it made her miss Santana's voice. She would have to ask her to sing for her on Skype later.

They went over her choreography for the rest of the meeting. Unique was a good dancer, considering the heels, and Brittany knew she could always count on Blaine to get the choreography right. The rest were able to follow their leads, and they had learned about half of the song by the time Mr. Schuester said, "Alright guys, that's enough for today. Great job pulling it together."

Brittany went to gather her things as Tina and Blaine went into Mr. Schuester's office. Just as she turned to leave, Sam stopped her.

"Hey, Brittany, wait up!"

She smiled at him and waited as he slung his backpack over his shoulder.

"I was just wondering… if you didn't have any other plans, that is, maybe if you wanted to come with me to see Finding Nemo tonight? It's only in theaters this weekend, and I know you love that movie…"

Brittany's smile faltered, then fell.

"Um, Sam, listen. I know you and Mercedes broke up but Santana and I-"

"No, no! Not like that. Just as friends. It's just, you've seemed kind of lonely ever since school started. You're not as… I don't know, _Brittany_ anymore, and it's sad. I miss the old you."

"The old me?" Brittany was confused.

"Yeah, the Brittany who was happy and always making jokes and danced at every opportunity. I know you miss Santana, but I don't think it has to be like this," Sam said, laying a hand on her shoulder.

"I do miss Santana a lot, but it's not just that. I'm just… I feel like everyone else is doing things and I'm just not," she said, shrugging her shoulders sadly.

"So do something. Come to the movies with me tonight, it'll make you feel better, I promise," Sam smiled.

She thought it over for a second before nodding, allowing herself to be pulled into a hug.

"Great!" he said, once they had let go. "I'll text you in an hour or two to let you know what's going on, okay?"

* * *

Brittany ended up getting dropped off at the theatre by her mom at 9:00. They were going to a later showing, hoping to avoid the hoards of small children that would probably be coming to see the movie.

"I love you," she said, leaning across the console to kiss her mother on the cheek. Her mother smiled back at her, glad to know that no matter how old she got, Brittany never minded being 'mommy's little girl.'

"Sam is going to drop you off at home, right?"

"Right!" she said, closing the car door behind her as she got out. She leaned her arms against the window, ducking so she could see her mother's face. "Don't wait up!"

"You know I couldn't if I tried," Mrs. Pierce replied with a chuckle. "I love you. Enjoy the movie!"

Sam was waiting inside the lobby. He had a huge popcorn and two boxes of DOTS.

"Hey!" he called, a huge smile on his face (not that that was out of the ordinary- just _look_ at that boy's lips!).

"Hi, Sam!" Brittany responded brightly, walking up to him.

"I figured we could share. I didn't uh… have enough for drinks, though, sorry…" he said, eyes turned towards his feet.

"It's okay, you wouldn't have been able to carry it all yourself anyway," she assured him. "Why don't you go get us seats and I'll get us some pop?"

Sam smiled gratefully. His hands were incredibly full, so he directed her to pull her ticket out of his hoodie pocket.

When he had called earlier to tell her he got their tickets, she had tried to insist on paying him back, but he wouldn't hear of it.

"Tonight is about you," he told her at least ten times before she gave up. His family was still so low on money, and she knew he worked hard to get all the cash he had to spend. The fact that he was willing to spend it on _her_ made her feel like he really, truly cared about her. Which, for the time being, was exactly what she needed. She was just happy that she was getting to buy the drinks to try and pay him back.

He was sitting in the middle row when he found her. The chairs at the theatre were the nice kind, with upholders and plush cushions that reclined. The commercials had already started, and she had to climb awkwardly over several peoples legs and laps to reach Sam.

"Yo," he whispered when she sat down, shoving the popcorn in her face. She grinned at him and grabbed a handful, throwing it piece by piece into her mouth. "Thanks for the soda."

"Thanks for the snacks," she replied through a mouth full of buttery popcorn.

They watched the rest of the trailers mostly in silence, occasionally leaning over to whisper to one another when a movie came on that they wanted to see. They were all commercials for animated kids' movies, which were Brittany's favorites, and she was surprised to see how excited Sam got about some of them, too. She thought he would be an action-flick kind of guy, but she could tell she was wrong when his eyes lit up as the Pixar short came on in the beginning.

"Saddest opening to a Dinsey movie ever," he commented after the title song played.

"Um, no, Up was," she answered, looking at him like he was crazy. He smiled back sheepishly.

"I actually haven't seen it…" he answered, and her eyes widened.

"What?!" she said, a bit too loudly, and shrunk in her seat when someone turned around to glare at her.

"How?!"

Sam just shrugged, and she threw a few pieces of popcorn at him. He laughed, and it rang through the silent theatre.

"Shh!" someone hushed, and they both started giggling.

"We'll talk about it after," he said, and she nodded.

They watched the rest of the movie quietly, laughing along with the rest of the audience and occasionally whispering favorite lines back and forth to each other. A couple of times throughout the movie he thought he heard her sniffle, but it was hard to tell if she was actually crying at the touching moments with the thick, black glasses covering her eyes. It wasn't until after Nigel had dropped Marlin and Dory back in the ocean after visiting Dr. Sherman's office that Sam began to notice a change in Brittany.

"_Please don't go away. Please? No one's ever stuck with me for so long before…" _

Brittany's hands began to shake, and Sam could have sworn he heard a hitch in her breathing. He squinted at her to try to make out her expression in the dark theatre, but all he could see was that her lips were sucked into her mouth. He reached out and grabbed her hand, and she squeezed it back tightly.

"_I remember it, I do. It's there, I know it is, because when I look at you, I can feel it. And-and I look at you, and I... and I'm home. Please... I don't want that to go away." _

Brittany tore her hand out of his grip suddenly. Her jaw was now quivering, her lip worried between her teeth.

"I'm sorry, I-I can't, I have to-" she got up, almost knocking her popcorn over as she ran out of the theatre.

She was only outside for a few seconds before Sam caught up with her, grabbing her arm and pulling her to a stop.

"Britt, wait- come here," he said, wrapping his arms around her. She resisted at first, but felt herself relaxing more into his embrace as he rubbed comforting circles onto her shoulders.

"I-mh, sorry, I j-just…" Brittany felt herself beginning to sob.

"I know, I understand," Sam said softly, and she heard a truth behind his words that she really wished she didn't.

"I miss her," she said, pulling Sam tighter against her.

"I know you do," he said. "I miss her too."

Brittany wasn't sure whether or not he was talking about Santana.

They stayed that way for a few minutes before Brittany loosened her grip, sniffling.

"I ruined our friend date."

"Our what?" Sam asked, chuckling.

"Our friend date. It's like, a date, except one you go on with your friends. I was excited for us to go on a friend date and now I've ruined it."

"You didn't ruin it, Britt," he replied.

She scoffed.

"No, really. The whole point of this was to try and make you feel better, and if this is what you need, to have a shoulder to cry on and someone to talk to… Well, I'm more than happy to do it. I could use a friend, too, you know?"

His words made her smile, a genuine smile, which felt a bit silly considering how wet her cheeks still were.

"Okay, but… maybe we should go somewhere else. I think people are starting to stare," she said, giggling. And it was true. People had been giving her strange looks since she had run out of the theatre crying. She always thought it was weird how many people would pass by without asking what was _wrong_ when someone looked visibly upset.

"Good idea."

* * *

Faurot Park was too far of a walk away for this late at night, but they had Sam's car. They listened to the radio on the ride there, and Brittany leaned her head against the window. She wasn't really crying anymore, just the occasional tear, and every minute or two Sam would reach out and rub her arm to make sure she was all right.

They were there within five minutes. Sam shut off the ignition, and they sat, enjoying the silence for a few minutes before Brittany finally spoke up.

"She's not here anymore," she said softly. "And it sucks way more than I thought it would. I want to be a good girlfriend, I want her to go and do what's best for her but I- I just, I need her and I don't think she knows that because she hasn't been here."

"It's only been a month, Britt. She can't visit _that_ often. Gas is expensive, and it's like two hundred miles away," Sam explained, turning to face her in his seat.

"Two hundred and twenty seven," she corrected, nodding. "But that's not what I meant. I just mean she's not here like… she's not _with_ me anymore. Like, she isn't… her texts are just words and our phone calls are just our voices, they're not our love, they're not our hearts. I just can't feel her the way I need to. I thought I would be able to with her gone, but I can't."

"I understand," he said, nodding. "Have you guys been talking a lot?"

"Yeah," she affirmed. "But like, she hasn't really been saying much. I mean, she's keeping up conversation but I feel every mile that's keeping us apart in everything she says."

"Have you talked to her about it?" he asked.

"No," Brittany said, shaking her head sharply. "I can't. She can't take out any more time than she is now to spend on me. She has a lot going on, she's really busy. I can't ask that of her. I won't."

Sam sighed, knowing exactly what she meant. Mercedes was busy singing in California, and they had broken up because he didn't want to distract her from making her music. He wasn't being like Finn, he knew for a fact that they were not going to get back together. Mercedes was too beautiful and had so much ahead of her, he knew that their relationship wasn't going to be good for her career. It had hurt when she agreed, but the fact that they were both crying when she left gave his heart a little comfort.

"So, you need to distract yourself more," he suggest. Brittany found herself agreeing.

"Yeah, I know. Tonight was really good! At least, until…" she trailed off, and Sam laughed. It made her laugh, too. "But, I mean, I wasn't… it wasn't that I didn't miss or that I wasn't thinking about her, but it didn't hurt as much."

"When is she visiting next?" Sam asked cautiously. Brittany's face fell again.

"She doesn't know. She was supposed to come up weekend after next but her squad has to cheer at their first game then. She might not be home until Fall Break…"

"Well, you know what that means, right?"

Brittany looked up, curious.

"We're gonna have to plan a lot more friend dates."

Sam's smile was infectious, and she felt herself grinning back at him after rolling her eyes.

* * *

She woke up the next morning feeling a bit more like her old self. She danced around the kitchen as she packed her lunch, juggling the tangerines before picking two out to shove in her backpack for breakfast.

Her mother dropped her off, and she kissed her cheek before getting out of the car.

"Have a nice day, hun!" she called.

"I will!" Brittany answered.

Unforunately, her good mood could only last so long.

_Kitty. _The girl had weaseled her way onto the team, and now she was trying to get Brittany's slot as captain. Brittany had earned it more than anyone else on the team. It was only because she was so sure of that fact that she got so angry when Coach told her that she was going to have to make sure her routines and grades stayed as tight as possible in the upcoming weeks.

"Kitty talked to Figgins. She demanded to know why she had to keep up her grades if a fellow squad member was allowed to flunk out of her senior year and still have a spot not only on my Cheerios, but also in the Glee Club. Now, I personally don't give a rat's ass what you do in these classrooms. To me, all that matters is what you do out on that field.

Nonetheless, Figgins is now involved. He's going to have his eye on you. Keep your grades up if you want to stay captain, understand?" Brittany nodded. "Good."

She left the coaches office feeling even worse than she had the day before after receiving the bad grade on her history exam. Before, she was only fighting for the opportunity to be near Santana as soon as possible. Now, if she flunked, she'd end up being away from Santana for even longer, and, on top of that, absolutely miserable without the glee club and Cheerios.

* * *

Glee didn't make her feel too much better. Tina was no longer fighting, but she wasn't saying anything at all. The room was tense, and they only made very little progress because of it. Mr. Schuester dismissed them after lecturing them on the importance of teamwork.

Brittany waited for Sam outside the choir room doors.

"Are you busy tonight?" she asked.

Sam sighed. He wanted to say no so badly, because her she had this little pout on that was goddamn near irresistible, but unfortunately he had to tell her he already made plans to Skype with his parents in Kentucky.

"But maybe I can call you after? You can tell me about…" he trailed off, then shrugged. "The rest of your day and stuff."

"Oh, yeah, that sounds fun!" Brittany nodded. She knew she wasn't going to have anything _new_ to tell Sam at that point in the day. She'll probably have spent her evening with her face buried in her math textbook, attempting to do her homework, but she figured it would be nice to have someone to complain to about how hard it was afterwards. After all, Sam was dyslexic. He understood where she was coming from a lot more than anyone else.

"Give you a ride home, though?" he offered, and she nodded happily.

They sang loudly to her Mulan playlist on her phone on the ride home. Sam had an old, beat-up car that he must have bought off of one of his friends' parents. It looked awful, but it drove well enough, and it at least had seat belts in it.

Brittany hadn't bothered learning how to drive yet. It wasn't that she didn't want to, because she did, but her parents were so busy all the time and between Glee and Cheerios she hadn't had a spot open after school to take driver's ed yet.

They were home too soon for her liking. She tried inviting Sam to come inside, but he shook his head, saying he didn't want to intrude. She told him that only her mom was home, and there wasn't anything to intrude _on_, but he insisted, claiming that his mother hated it when he invited people over without telling her and that he wouldn't want to put that on her mother.

She rolled her eyes, called him a southern gentlemen. He laughed and shoved her, telling her in his politest drawl to "go'ern, n' get da hell outta ma ca."

"I'll call you later," he said, smiling up at her through the window. She waved as he drove away, and sighed. She didn't feel like going back to being unhappy, but she knew, inevitably, that was what was going to happen.

* * *

"Mom? I'm home!" she called, slamming the door closed behind her.

"In here!" her mom responded from the kitchen.

Brittany walked in, dropping her stuff next to the counter before going and taking a seat next to her mom.

"Why don't you go put your things upstairs?" her mom said teasingly, and Brittany rolled her eyes. Her mother was sort of a neat freak.

"In a few minutes," she replied, snuggling into her mother's arm. "I just wanna do this for a few."

"Aw, honey," Mrs. Pierce replied, wrapping one arm around Brittany. "Hard day at school?"

"Yeah," she sighed, not willing to go into it any further. She was sure her mother had noticed that something was off about her, but she didn't want to address it, especially not now. Now, she just wanted to go wallow for a little while and watch cartoons on the couch.

"How was work?" she asked, muffled by her mother's shirt.

"Work was good. Do you have any homework?" Brittany nodded. "Why don't you go sit up at your desk and get it done, that way you have the whole evening open?"

Brittany wanted to reply that she didn't think that starting now would allow her to open up her evening any more, but instead she just shrugged.

"I think I'm gonna go lie down," she replied instead.

"Oh, okay, I'll come up and wake you when dinner is ready?"

Brittany shook her head.

"Won't be needed! I think I'll camp out on the couch."

"Oh," her mother replied, frowning. "Alright then."

Her sister was watching Danny Phantom in the living room. She flopped down on the couch, her feet coming to rest against Brianna's legs.

"What's up, Bri?" she asked as she settled against the couch.

"Sh!" Brianna hushed, her eyes glued to the TV. It wasn't until the commercials kicked in that she tore her eyes away from the screen, locking on Brittany with a grin.

"Hey!" she shouted, jumping across the couch to land, sprawled, on top of Brittany. Their family didn't have many boundaries when it came to physicality.

"Hey, bugs. How was school?"

"It was okay," the younger Pierce shrugged. "We learned multiplication!" she added excitedly.

"Oh, that's fun!" Brittany said, grinning. Sure, if Brianna asked her for help with her homework, she probably wouldn't have much to offer, but she was glad to see that the kid had begun to enjoy learning so much.

"What are you doing down here?" Brianna asked, cocking her head to the side.

"What do you mean-"

"Bri, baby, could you come here for a second?" her mother's voice came from the kitchen. Brittany eyed her sister suspiciously as she sprang up, running into the hallway.

She returned not a minute later, smiling.

"What was that abo-"

"Sh!" Brianna hushed her again. Danny Fenton was back on the screen. Brianna, although she was doing a lot better in school, had a similar attention span to Brittany's. By the time the next commercial break hit, they were discussing the intricacies of Sam and Danny's relationship together.

* * *

Brittany fell asleep somewhere between the first and second episode. She woke to her mother shaking her shoulder, telling her it was time for dinner.

She checked her phone, realizing she hadn't responded to Santana since glee club let out. She had six unread messages. Most of them were just calling her silly names for forgetting to respond, but she felt bad anyway.

_To: Santana_

_sorry, i fell asleep. I'll text you after dinner? _

_From: Santana_

_It's fine, baby. I'm just bored without you… I miss you __L_

She sighed, reading the message a couple of times over before responding.

_To: Santana_

_miss u more baby. can we skype tonight? _

_From: Santana_

_Sorry Britts, I can't. I'm going out._

Brittany was almost tempted to ask "with who?" but she figured that that would be borderline creepy. She didn't want to turn into one of those overly attached girlfriends. Instead she just told Santana it was okay, and left to go sit at the table.

They ate tacos, which was a rarity in their household. Usually her mother would save these sorts of meals for when Santana was over, in an attempt to make her feel welcome. It always made Brittany feel slightly embarrassed, because, aside from being stereotypical, Santana's family was never around to eat tacos with her. Most nights, she knew Santana ate pizza or Chinese food or ramen noodles. Still, it made Santana happy, and that was enough for Brittany to never mention it to her mother.

She helped clear the table afterwards, wiping down the dishes and putting them in the dishwasher while her sister put away the various things on the table.

After she was done, she went and sat back down on the couch, picking up the remote to flip through the channels.

"Britt?" her mother called, standing in the doorway.

"Mh?" she answered, not feeling like acting cheerily anymore.

"Britt, I think it's time you go and get some of your homework done," her mom said gently. Brittany sighed.

"What would even be the point?" she asked solemnly, and her mother let out a puff of angry air.

"Brittany Susan Pierce, don't you use that tone of voice with me! Now you go upstairs and do your homework, and don't come down until you've finished!"

Brittany stared at her mother in awe. She hadn't yelled at Brittany since she was a little kid. It sounded strange, coming through her mouth.

"Fine," she mumbled, dragging her feet to pick up her backpack before walking dejectedly to the stairs. Her mother had been supportive when she told her she didn't pass her senior year. She was always understanding of Brittany's… _issues_ when it came to school.

She knew her mother was just trying to get her to succeed, but still, it hurt that she couldn't find a way to do that without _yelling_ at her. She wished that she had offered to help, or at least been a little nicer about it, or…

Brittany sighed, kicking open her door and dropping her bag by the foot of the bed before throwing herself face-first into her pillows.

"What, I don't even get a hello?"

Brittany jumped, startled, pushing herself off her bed with energy she didn't know she had after that day to look at the person swiveling happily in her desk chair.

"Santana?!"


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: **I don't write this kind of fluff and stuff usually, but I couldn't help it after tonights episode. I'm quite sorry.

Check me out at **iam-your-opus . tumblr . com **if you wanna be friends!

All errors are my own, I don't have a beta :(

* * *

"Santana?!" Brittany asked, her bewildered tone making Santana chuckle.

"What, you don't even recognize your own girlfriend? Has it really been that long?" she questioned, a playful glint in her eye.

"No… I just- what are you doing here?" she asked, but then realized she cared much less about the answer than she did the distance between them. She jumped off the bed, launching herself towards her girlfriend. Santana grunted when she landed in her lap, but it turned into giggles when Brittany settled herself into the crook of her neck.

"What are you doing here?" she asked again, her words muted by Santana's shoulder.

"A little bird with a very large mouth told me my girl has been feeling down," she answered. She kissed her temple softly, nuzzling into blonde hair when it tickled against her nose. "And I couldn't have that. So I moved some things around, filled my car up with gas, and drove up here to fix it as fast as I could."

Santana shrugged, and the movement forced Brittany to lift her head. She studied Santana's face; she was smiling and happy and _there_, in her arms. She could feel her skin, warm against hers, the way that Santana always seemed to lean into even the smallest touch.

It was everything that she had been missing. Brittany felt tears sting at her eyes, completely overwhelmed by the shock and the fact that Santana would do all that for her. She leaned in, raising a hand to cup her cheek as their lips met. The kiss was sweet and soft, and she felt a chill run up her spine at the connection.

It always felt that way with Santana, even with the littlest kiss. It wasn't always fireworks, big and explosive and loud and overpowering. But it was always magical. It was like a current of energy flowed between them, like kissing each other allowed them to see into each others' hearts and minds, really feeling each other. It was this sort of connection that Brittany had missed so badly when Santana was away. Because with Santana here, holding and kissing her, she knew she was loved.

"How long have you been waiting up here?" she asked once they pulled away.

"Since about an hour before you got home from school," Santana replied, shrugging like it wasn't very long at all. Brittany took a moment to count up the hours, before gently smacking at Santana's shoulder.

"Oh my god, Santana! That's like… five hours! You should have said something!" she whined.

"And miss seeing that look on your face? No way."

"But it's been hours," Brittany repeated sadly, remembering all the time she had spent downstairs, watching cartoons with her sister and eating dinner with her family, time that she could have spent up here, with Santana.

"It was worth it," Santana said, leaning in to kiss her again. Brittany hummed in appreciation, before pulling back sharply.

"Wait- my mom knew you were up here this entire time?"

"Yeah, we've been texting actually. She's been trying to get you to come upstairs since you got home, but she didn't want to make it too obvious," she said grinning.

Brittany's mom had been more than happy to help Santana surprise her daughter. She had noticed that Brittany was down all week, and assumed it had something to do with the distance between the pair. They had spent so many years as inseparable best friends, then more than friends, then finally girlfriends. The adjustment to being a long distance pair was hard on Brittany.

So when Santana had called her the day before with her plan, Mrs. Pierce thought the surprise was an excellent idea. She had even offered to pay some of Santana's gas money, but Santana wouldn't hear of it. Mrs. Pierce picked her up at her house once she pulled into town, so Brittany wouldn't see her car waiting out front. It was so last minute that there weren't very many other clues that could have possibly tipped Brittany off. It was the perfect surprise.

Too perfect, in fact. Brittany wasn't expecting it at all, she spent the day moping around the house missing Santana.

"She wasn't… oh. Oh my god, I'm so sorry, I had no idea." Brittany buried herself in Santana's shoulder again, embarrassed that she didn't pick up on her mother's clues.

"Don't be silly, Britt. I'd do anything to see you happy."

Brittany grinned at the admission, loving that she knew Santana was telling her the absolute truth. Her hands found space on either side of Santana on the desk, and, using them to brace herself, she leaned in and kissed Santana deeply. Santana's lips were soft, warm, _happy_, and as they pushed against Brittany's mouth, they took away all thoughts of how hard the week was. Santana was there, Santana had come back, and _god_ she had missed kissing her.

She dragged the fingers of her right hand slowly up and down Santana's arm, until she finally trailed all the way up to her neck. While her fingers slid into the soft, dark hair, her other arm wrapped around Santana's torso, pulling her forward until she their bodies were as close as could be. Santana let out a soft moan at the contact, before realizing that this isn't where she had wanted their conversation to go at all.

"Britt-" she pulled away to try and speak, but Brittany's lips chased after her own. "Brittany, wait. I think we should talk before we…"

"We can talk later," Brittany insisted, pressing her mouth to her girlfriend's. But Santana wasn't having it.

"Baby," she said sternly, pushing softly at Brittany's shoulders. Brittany pouted, her cheeks flushed, but she allowed the space to grow between them until she could see Santana's entire face.

Santana took a moment, combing Brittany's hair through her fingers while she collected her thoughts. Brittany softly sighed, leaning into her hand, a content smile forming on her lips.

"Why didn't you tell me you were this upset?" Santana finally asked.

"I'm not upset," she said quickly, dropping Santana's gaze.

"Brittany, Sam wouldn't give me the details or anything but…" she paused to sigh, her hand brushing against Brittany's cheek causing her to look back into Santana's eyes. "He told me I had to come see you as soon as possible. We both know Sam wouldn't lie to me," she said, a serious look on her face.

"He wasn't lying… I _was_ upset, but I'm not upset anymore. You're here. It's fixed!" she exclaimed, forcing the happiness into her voice, hoping Santana would fall for it (but knowing she wouldn't). "So now can we _please _enjoy our time here together?" she asked quietly.

Brittany knew it was wrong of her, after she went through all that trouble in eleventh grade just to get Santana to talk about feelings and problems with her, to try and push away their issues and pretend they didn't exist. But she doesn't think Santana is staying very long, and she knew no matter what came out of this conversation, at the end of the weekend, Santana was still going to be two hundred miles away and Brittany would still be here, alone.

Santana knew this, too, and she could hear the meaning behind Brittany's words. She knew that Brittany recognized that her presence is only temporary. She remembered that tone in Britt's voice from the last month of summer, when many nights would end in watery eyes and shared secrets about how scared they were of losing each other once the summer was over and Santana was gone. They had promised each other that they wouldn't let the distance wear on their relationship, but… the fact that Brittany had gotten this upset without telling her scared Santana.

"But Brittany, you can't get that upset every time I'm gone, honey. I'll be away at college a lot," Santana responded, frowning.

"So what do you want to do?" Brittany asked, searching Santana's eyes for an answer. Ever since they'd officially gotten together, Santana had been her rock. She didn't like the unsettling feeling that had taken over their relationship since she left. It wasn't anything like what it had been in junior year, but the change still made her uncomfortable.

"We need to figure this out. I don't want you to be this unhappy when I'm gone," she said calmly, squeezing her girlfriend's hands in her own. "Just… tell me what I need to do?"

Brittany looked down at their entwined fingers, pinching her lips to one side and shrugging.

"You don't need to do anything. You're busy, I understand."

She didn't want to ask anything extra of Santana- she was paying for her education, after all. If Brittany was to take away from that experience, she would never forgive herself. She might not have valued school very much for herself through the years, but Santana was different. Sure, she was willing to give up school to go to New York, but she was also a perfectionist; now that she had committed to going to school, being anything less that spectacular would kill her.

"Britt, I'm never too busy for you," she sad sincerely. "I just need to know what it is that I've been doing wrong."

Brittany frowned at this. She didn't want Santana to think she was doing anything _wrong_. She wasn't. Santana was being fine, she was being a great girlfriend like she had been ever since they were official. It was _herself_ that she was disappointed in in the relationship.

"I just… I miss you, that's all," she admitted.

"I miss you too, baby," Santana agreed quickly. "But… you can't let it get to you like that."

"I can't help it," Brittany sighed. This was the part of the conversation she didn't want to get into, and she could feel herself already growing upset at it. "Everything was just going so wrong and you weren't here to help me."

"But I don't have to be here to help you Britt. You can still talk to me, you just need to let me know what's going on. And you have friends here, too," Santana reminded her, hoping Brittany would agree. She hadn't talked much to Brittany about her friendships here in Lima, but she figured that she must have become close with Sam since he had been the one to call her.

"Yeah, Sam has been really nice," Brittany confirmed. "It's just not the same, though. He makes me happy, but he doesn't take away the sad. He's just like a big comfy blanket. He covers it up. If you were here, you'd fix it for me," she said simply, with a small shrug.

Her explanation made Santana's heart clench. She leaned up to kiss Brittany on the forehead, resting her own there once she pulled away.

"I just don't understand why you haven't been talking to me babe," she said.

"It like… it doesn't feel like I'm talking to you, you know what I mean?"

Santana shook her head, confusion etching into her brow. Brittany sighed heavily.

"I mean, when we're texting… the words are just words. I can't feel you saying them like I can when you're here. Skype is a bit better, but we don't get to Skype that often and when we do you're never really alone. I feel like you can't understand me from far away and I don't know what to do because you're the only person who ever _has_ understood me. I just feel like I'm all alone," she finished sadly.

"Baby…" Santana sighed, before moving forward to capture the other girl's lips. The kiss caught Brittany by surprise, but she quickly relaxed into it. It was chaste, but it relieved some of the tension her confession had just caused in her chest. "I'm sorry. I know I've been distant lately, but I was just trying to give you your space back at home. I didn't want you to feel like I needed you to talk to me all the time in order for me to be happy. But to be honest, Britt…

"I've missed you so much, too. I miss seeing you every day and I miss hearing your voice before I go to sleep. Maybe… maybe we can work something out? Maybe we can try to call at least every other night before bed. I can find someplace private, we can talk to each other about our days and you can tell me about what stupid impressions Trouty did and I can complain to you about this new bitch that I have to take orders from on the squad."

She traced her fingers along Brittany's jaw, holding her gaze lovingly.

"No one has ever understood me like you have either, Britt. You know that, right? You're it for me, too."

Instead of a response, Santana was pushed back by the force of Brittany throwing her arms around Santana's shoulders.

"I've missed you so much," Brittany said, and she was pretty sure it sounded like the girl was crying. A second later she sniffled, and Santana squeezed her tighter. "I'm so sorry I let it get to me like that. I should have said something."

"Don't be ridiculous, B. I'm sorry I needed Sam Evans, of all people, to tell me what's going on with my girlfriend," Santana replied, chuckling darkly.

"Hey," Brittany whined lightly, pulling away. "Don't say that, Sam is nice."

"Yeah, yeah. Let's just hope he doesn't get any ideas about stealing my girl," she laughed, partially joking. The thought had crossed her mind when she first received Sam's phone call, but she realized quickly that she was being ridiculous. She trusted Brittany with her life. She would never cheat on her. And Sam… Sam was a good guy. He knew how much they loved each other, and he would never try to come in-between that.

"Ew," Brittany exclaimed, scrunching up her nose. "Santana, that's gross. He's blond too, that makes it like… incesticide."

Santana barked out a laugh, and Brittany tilted her head to the side with a slight grin like she always did when she got that reaction out of her. Her smile broke into giggles a moment later, and she leaned forward to press her lips against Santana's once again.

The kisses started out small, both of them smiling into each other's mouths. On the third or forth kiss, Brittany pulled Santana's bottom lip between her own, and the smile faded off Santana's face as her hands both rose to hold Brittany's cheeks for a moment before wrapping around her shoulders, pulling her close.

Her tongue darted out quickly, barely grazing the edge of Brittany's own lips, but she could tell the girl felt it by her sudden sharp inhale. Not a second later, Brittany was standing up pulling Santana with her, before spinning them around and guiding Santana gently to sit on the edge of the bed. Brittany straddled her hips, her legs folding under themselves as she settled in as close as she could. Santana's hands immediately found the small of her back and she held her there, steadying her.

Brittany's tongue swiped against her mouth, and Santana automatically parted her lips, granting her access. Brittany took advantage eagerly, her tongue pushing into her mouth to tangle with Santana's.

"Mmmph," Santana moaned when Brittany's hands traveled up her front, grabbing her by the shirt and pulling her in close. Brittany broke the kiss at this point, pushing against Santana's shoulders until she was lying down. Her lips soon found the side of Santana's neck, and she sucked gently along it until she found the spot she knew would make Santana squirm. She teased at it, first with her tongue, then with her teeth, until Santana's breathing had become ragged and her hands were clutching at Brittany tightly.

"God, that feels good," she said softly, her voice a sigh. Brittany smiled into the next few kisses; she loved having this effect on Santana.

Santana's hands began to wander, first trailing up the sides up Brittany's arms before sliding between their bodies, onto her girlfriend's stomach. She quickly slipped her fingers underneath her shirt, pressing them into the Brittany's sides.

Brittany moved up her neck, pausing to nibble on her ear. Santana felt a chill run down her spin at the warmth, and she sighed heavily, her hands trailing up Brittany's back and pulling the shirt along with it.

"Off," she said, tugging the shirt as far up as she could from her position. She felt Brittany exhale a laugh against her ear before she sat up, still straddling Santana's hips, to pull of the top. Santana propped herself up on her elbows to get a better look, and Brittany laughed again when she caught her staring.

"Like what you see?" she asked, giggling, and Santana nodded as she took in the tight stomach and smooth, tanned skin she had missed so much the past month. Her fingers moved slowly across Brittany's stomach, stopping to trace along her hipbone and finally hook into the waistband of her pants, before pulling sharply to flip them over so she was on top.

She kissed her, fiercely, and the blonde girl moaned at the sudden change in pace. The sound vibrated against Santana's lips, and it only encouraged her to deepen the kiss, swirling her tongue against Brittany's. She took advantage of Brittany's bare skin, not wasting a second as her hands traced the girl's sides, her hands stopping at Brittany's bra. She was tempted to pull it off, but she knew that Brittany wouldn't appreciate the uneven amount of clothing removal. Sure enough, no more than five seconds later, Brittany was pulling away from her kiss.

"San," she whined, grabbing at Santana's top. Santana happily obliged, lifting herself off the bed so that Brittany could tug the shirt up and over her shoulders. Santana didn't give Brittany the time to admire her body before she leaned down, lips pressing against her collarbone. She supported herself against her right elbow so her left hand could move freely. She put it almost immediately to good use as she pulled down the straps on Brittany's bra, kissing the newly exposed skin as she went.

"Baby," Brittany said in a voice that was halfway between a sigh and a moan.

She returned to Brittany's lips a few seconds later, guiding her by the back of her head into a sitting position. Her hands slid down to her bra clasp, and Brittany quickly understood, reaching around to undo Santana's at the same time. Brittany's bra slid easily off her shoulders, falling against their joined hips. Santana shrugged hers off once Brittany had undone the clasp, grabbing them both and throwing them off to the side.

Brittany got to her first, this time, her head ducking down so her mouth could press against the soft skin of her breast. She kissed lightly across the tops of them both, before tugging on Santana's hips so that she was leaning on her knees, her chest now eye-level with Brittany. She grinned up at Santana before leaning in to gently run her tongue along the underside of her boob.

Santana found her hands threading through Brittany's hair. She tried not to be too forceful, but she guided upwards towards where she wanted her the most. Brittany chuckled at her impatience before her lips brushed against her hardened nipple, teasing it gently. Santana had just enough time to gasp before Brittany's mouth was on her, warm and wet and strong and soft all at once, sending a jolt of electricity down her spine. Her hands came to rest against Santana's ass, and Santana couldn't help the moan that escaped her lips when the blonde squeezed down with strong fingers.

"Christ, Britt," she breathed. "I missed you."

"Mhm," Brittany said, and pulled back to look her in the eye. "I missed you more," she answered, before leaning up and pulling her into a long, meaningful kiss, not resisting when Santana pushed backwards so that she was once more lying on top of Brittany. She settled between Brittany's legs this time, and wasn't surprised when Brittany rocked her hips up against her own. The dancer always managed to find a rhythm in everything.

They kissed lovingly for another minute before it began to get feverish again, tongues wrestling and Brittany's nails trailing up and down Santana's back. Santana broke away first, turning her head so she could kiss down Brittany's neck to her chest. She spent some time there, kissing her in all the places she knew Brittany liked the best, before continuing downwards. She felt the blonde's stomach muscles twitch as she placed hot, open mouth kisses on her abs, and when she reached her skirt, she laughed when Brittany quickly lifted her hips off the bed, practically begging for Santana to remove it.

She hooked her fingers in both the elastic of the skirt and of her underwear at the same time, making it a show of dragging it slowly down her legs before holding them up, hooked on her finger. Brittany pouted beneath her until she let them fall to the ground. She reached out her hands, beckoning her forward, and Santana indulged her, crawling up her body until the two were face to face again.

"Please," Brittany said, her voice airy as she slipped her hand down Santana's stomach and tried, unsuccessfully, to unbutton her jeans with one hand. "I need…" she didn't get to finish her sentence before Santana was nodding, leaning and and kissing her while she unbuttoned her pants and pulled them, along with her underwear, off. Brittany hands immediately found her ass again, fingers digging into bare cheeks to pull them flush against each other.

"Santana, please," Brittany moaned, and Santana couldn't even try to attempt to say no to her when she used that voice on her. She slipped one leg over her girlfriend's thigh, straddling her so that they were each pressing into each other. She moaned at the feeling of Brittany, wet and hot, against her own wetness, and Brittany's leg curling around her waist to pull her in closer. Her hand came to rest against Brittany's shoulder, and Brittany's hips jumped against hers, begging her to start moving.

Santana began to grind against her, slowly at first, appreciating the sight of the girl sprawled out beneath her. This was Brittany's favorite position, and Santana certainly had no complaints about it. From this angle, she could watch Brittany during every second, and it was the sexiest thing she had ever seen.

"God, _yes_, San," Brittany moaned, her eyes clenched tight as her hands found grips in the sheets around her. "Faster, baby, please go fas- _yes, _just like that_, baby- _god_." _Santana began to move steadily, her hips grinding down in figure eights against the girl. She couldn't help the moan the escaped her lips as Brittany's hips rose to meet her own, pressing against her just _right-_

Brittany was suddenly grabbing her shoulders, reaching up to flip them around. Santana gasped out in shock as her back was pressed into the bed, Brittany's full weight coming to rest against her hips.

"Britt, what're you d-d-_oh_," her question stuttered into a moan as Brittany began to move her hips above her. She watched as her girlfriend's stomach muscles clenched as she drove herself faster and harder against her, and had to fight closing her eyes in pleasure. Forget what she said earlier- seeing Brittany like this, mouth agape and hips rolling quickly against her own, determined to reach her climax, was definitely the sexiest thing she had ever seen.

Brittany was panting, her skin shiny with sweat, her chest bouncing with each roll of her hips. Santana could tell she was close by the moans escaping from her lips, the way that every few thrusts came off beat, jerking against Santana. Santana knew that she wouldn't last long, either. The sight of Brittany alone was nearly enough to get her off, but that combined with the amazing sensations that Brittany was causing…

"So close, baby, please," Santana moaned, lifting her hands to grasp Brittany's waist. "Don't stop, don't fucking stop. _Please, _so good, I can't_- I- _uh, baby please don't fucking- oh, _Britt." _Brittany was shaking above her, her hips jerking wildly against Santana as she came, and the sight sent Santana over the edge. She dropped her leg so Brittany could fall against her, trembling, as they both were overcome by their release.

Their skin was slick with sweat as they laid on top of Brittany's bed. Santana had a blonde head tucked under her chin, and her arms circled lazily around Brittany's back. Neither of them spoke for a few moments; they just lay in silence, catching their breath and trying to return coherent thought to their brains.

"God," Santana sighed, laughing, once she was able to speak again. "That's so much better in person than it is through Skype."

"Mmh," Brittany hummed in agreement as she lifted her head to look Santana in the eyes. She grinned, big, when they make eye contact, and stretched her neck forward to kiss the bottom of her jaw.

"I love you," she sighed happily, and Santana returned her grin.

"I love you too, B," Santana answered, scratching her fingers lovingly against Brittany's scalp.

"I'm all sweaty now," Brittany said, scrunching her nose adorably.

"And whose fault is that?" Santana asked, laughing loudly.

"Um, yours," Brittany replied with a grin. "Duh."

"Excuse me, you were the one who chose to do all the work. I was perfect willing to do all the sweating for both of us!"

"Well," Brittany said, a smirk appearing on her face, "if you didn't look so hot, I would've been able to control myself."

Santana couldn't help the laugh that bubbled from her lips. Brittany pretended to look offended for a few seconds, before bursting into laughter with her.

"Santana?" Brittany asked a few minutes later, once their laughter had died down.

"Yeah, Britt?"

Brittany snuggled into the crook of Santana's neck, placing a soft kiss there before continuing.

"Thank you for this," she answered simply, and Santana smiled shyly at her.

"Thank you for this, too, in that case," she said. "I needed this just as much as you did."

Brittany sighed. "I'm going to miss you when you go back, though."

"Well, I'm here for another two days, Britt. We'll just have to make the most of the time we have, you know?"

Brittany nodded absentmindedly, before a wicked grin snuck over her face.

"You know what that means?" she said, snaking her hand up Santana's body once again.

"I think I just might," Santana replied as she leaned in to meet Brittany for a kiss.


End file.
